Mortgage & Refinancing Information

Option ARM Mortgage Loan - Is This Really for You?


What happened to the days of a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage loan? Ultimately this is the safest and most popular mortgage loan product in our industry, but new mortgage products are hitting the market, and we in the mortgage business are using them to our advantage; ever heard the radio advertisement saying, "buy a $200K home for $643.28 per month; call XYZ Mortgage Company to apply"? The product used in this ad is called an Option ARM, and I feel it's my duty as a mortgage professional to tell you what this product is in case you happen to meet up with that loan officer whose only concern is to make a fee, and not have your best interest in mind.

Here's how this program works: when you pay your mortgage back you're given 4 monthly payment options. Here are the 4 options:

1. Year 1 minimum monthly payment = your principle and interest payment calculated at a 1.00% rate with a fully indexed rate of roughly 5.00% (the other 4% gets tacked on to the principle making your balance go up with each payment you make). Example: $200,000 @ 1.00% interest = $643.28 per month.

2. Interest only payment. Example: $200,000 X 4.997% / 12 = $832.83 per month (no principle would be paid down, but the principle wouldn't go up either as your paying all the interest monthly).

3. 30 year amortization based on the fully indexed rate of 4.997% = $1073.28 per month.

4. 15 year amortization based on the fully indexed rate of 4.997% = $1581.27 per month.

Now that you know how an Option ARM works is this really for you? As for most of us no: why? Most of us will pay the minimum payment due and let the interest build up on the balance. If you live in a region where home values are rapidly increasing that's okay, but if you live in a region where home values aren't increasing so fast you could be in trouble. If you try and sell your home you could be bringing thousands of dollars to the closing table to payoff this mortgage because your home didn't sell for enough money to cover the balance owed.

If you use this type of program to buy more home than you can afford it's going to catch up with you in the long run. My advise is to stick with what you can afford, if that's a 30 year fixed mortgage on an $100,000.00 home then so be it.

Who can benefit from an Option ARM? Are you just graduating college and starting an entry level job, and you know your income is going to greatly increase in the next couple of years? An Option ARM could be for you. Do you need to reduce your monthly payment temporarily due to financial hardship or debts getting out of control? An Option ARM refinance could be for you. Are you a smart investor and would take your monthly payment savings and invest it in the market for future financial security? An Option ARM refinance could be for you.

In summary, my job as a mortgage professional is to show you a mortgage program that best fits your needs. If you're considering an Option ARM mortgage loan, but you're not as disciplined with your finances as you feel you should be I wouldn't recommend this program for you. However, you might use an Option ARM to your advantage if you're a shrewd money manager and you plan to stay in your home for the long term. Good luck on your mortgage refinance or new home purchase.

The author of this article is Marc Sisk, I'm a mortgage professional with 7 years of loan origination experience; my web site's title is Mortgage Calculator | Refinancing Home Loan | Mortgage Lender. By being an affiliate branch of a large mortgage lender I'm able to do mortgage loans in most of the United States. Visit my web site to see if we're licensed in your state. This article may be reused and reprinted with the author's permission. Please email me the link to this article for viewing.


MORE RESOURCES:

Wachovia Posts Loss, Exits Wholesale Origination Business
Mortgageorb, CT - Jul 22, 2008
By MortgageOrb.com on Tuesday 22 July 2008 Consistent with previously announced expectations, Charlotte, NC-based Wachovia Corp. has reported a net loss in ...


ARM resets to hit peak this summer
Chicago Tribune, United States - Jul 13, 2008
By Renae Merle | The Washington Post The number of homeowners facing an increase in their subprime adjustable-rate mortgage payments will peak this summer, ...


LendingTree Names New Lender Sales Team
MarketWatch - Jul 22, 2008
... source of interested borrowers looking for home loans such as new purchase mortgage, refinance and home equity, as well as personal and auto loans. ...


ABC News

Money Managing Matters: Three Dos, Don'ts
ABC News - Jul 17, 2008
If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, refinance into a fixed rate one. Interest rates on adjustable rate mortgages are only going to go up, ...


DEBT ADVISOR
Columbia Daily Tribune, MO - Jul 21, 2008
Second, your mortgage-refinance issue is just the tip of the iceberg. Many people don’t know a negative credit history also will hurt you if you have to ...


Tips on obtaining money through refinancing
Fall River Herald News,  USA - Jul 3, 2008
Here are a couple of pointers for those considering mortgage refinance to take cash out of their home: The traditional way of judging the market value of a ...


Reuters

Foreclosure-rescue legislation benefits both borrowers, lenders
Arizona Republic, AZ - Jul 12, 2008
by Julie Hirschfeld Davis - Jul. 13, 2008 12:00 AM AP The foreclosure-rescue legislation moving through Congress would let financially strapped homeowners ...
US housing agency expands mortgage aid program Reuters
all 81 news articles


Market rescue, round two
Livemint, India - Jul 14, 2008
The stocks of the two mortgage refinance institutions fell to levels last seen 15 years ago on concerns about their bearing the brunt of the exposure to ...


Mortgage Rates Fall
HULIQ (press release), NC - Jul 16, 2008
Mortgage refinance applications also picked up over the week as homeowners take advantage of falling mortgage rates. The 30 year fixed mortgage rate ...


National Settlement Agency President Pleads Guilty to Embezzling
National Mortgage News, DC - Jul 16, 2008
By James Comtois After stealing more than $13 million in mortgage refinance proceeds, the former president of National Settlement Agency pleaded guilty ...

Mortgage-Refinance - Google News

home | site map
© 2006